Loud and proud: Page's male friend stripped off to reveal a multicoloured T-shirt

Almost as uncomfortable, was Page feeling the pressure to glam up in dresses after shooting to fame as the quirky pregnant teen in Juno.

'I
used to wish that it was a switch that I could turn, and play the game
and do the thing and put on the thing and smile and whatever,' she recalls. 'And I just
couldn't on an inexplicable level - soul, if I may.

'I used to say in photo shoots, "I would rather
be in boy underwear with my hands on my tits than put that thing on."'

Nowadays,
the star is usually seen in her favourite jeans and checked shirt - at
the post Oscars Vanity Fair party this year she arrived sporting a
tuxedo. But her new dress sense has seemingly divided some.

'I get more
hate, honestly, about dressing androgynously than about being gay. It
blows my mind,' she says.

Staying in the closet meant Page became subject to various media reports linking her to male co-stars including Canadian actor Mark Rendall, X-Men star Ben Foster and latterly her East co-star Alexander Skarsgard.

'People really thought we were dating,' Page marvels about the Skarsgard rumours.

However, Page estimatesthat 80 per cent of the industry knew about her sexual identity by the time she made her coming out speech at a Human Rights Campaign Conference.

'I would talk about being
gay, make jokes about it, or go to a meeting and [mention it] - because I'm also producing and starring in a lesbian civil rights
movie [Freeheld starring Julianne Morore] and I've been working on it for years,' she tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Since the speech, the weight has lifted. 'I knew I
would be happier,' she says. 'But I wouldn't have anticipated just how
f***ing happy I am and how every tiny little aspect of my life feels
better.'

Candid: Page opens up to The Hollywood Reporter about her inner struggles and bright future